Gold and Cold
Gold and Cold is a tie-in to The Grand Timeline Tournament, in which King Cold is revived and gains a Golden Form in place of his son. 'Prologue: The Foolish Samurai Warrior' Long ago in a distant land, I, Cold, the Tyrannical Ruler, unleashed an UNSPEAKABLE EVIL! But, a foolish Saiyan warrior wielding a strong sword, stepped forth to oppose. After the final blow was struck, I died. But I'm back in the future, where my evil is RAW! Now, I seek to destroy this past and regain the empire that is Cold! 'Chapter 1: The Coldest Tyrant's Return' On the last episode of Dragon Ball Z... Sorbet and Tagoma traveled to Earth to gather the Dragon Balls, hijacking Pilaf’s plan on the way. After gathering all seven of the balls, the devious duo used one of the wishes to revive the former leader of their army, King Cold. However, before they could revive Frieza, Shu wished for loads of zeni and Mai wished for loads of ice cream. Now, King Cold is being taken to heal, with the Z Fighters being none the wiser. What will the tyrant do with his second chance at life? Will our heroes be able to stop this evil incarnate? What will Shu do with his money, and what will Mai do with her ice cream? All these questions and more will be answered on today’s episode of Dragon Ball Z. Mai’s ice cream melted in the hot sun after a few bites, and Shu made a poor investment decisions that lead to him losing all of his money almost immediately. Meanwhile, King Cold was taken aboard the ship, and immediately placed in a healing tank. His injuries were minor, especially in comparison to the ones suffered by his son, so the hole in his chest was swiftly repaired by the green fluid. The soldiers crowded around the tank, all eager to see the regeneration in action. Also, many of them weren’t even aware of Cold’s existence, or had only heard rumors of his presence, and were eager to get an up-close look at the true ruler of the Planet Trade Organization. Sorbet shooed them off, to allow the King to heal in peace. His gorey chest wound healed itself quickly. Bones and tissues knitted themselves together in a matter of minutes, and soon, King Cold was back to full health. All of the men took a few steps away from the tank, expecting Cold to burst from it in an explosion of pure energy. Instead, his eyes open, but he remained floating inside the fluid. “Excuse me, Lord Cold?” Sorbet said, approaching the glass, and giving it a tap. “You may free yourself now, assuming that you’re fully healed.” “Oh, I know I can.” he said, his deep voice garbled by the mouthpiece he wore within the tank.. “But the bubbles in this tank are quite soothing. And besides, I can’t escape from it myself without blowing it up, and it’d be dreadful to waste such an expensive piece of equipment.” “Of course, my King.” Sorbet said. He pulled a lever, and the fluid drained out ponderously. The glass in front of Cold retracted, and the mask over his mouth was detached. He stepped out of the chamber, where he started stretching for quite some time. A minute passed when Sorbet asked, “Um...we’re glad to see you return, King Cold.” He started shuffling his tiny little feet, as he hanged his little muppet face down to the floor. “Although I’m sorry we couldn’t revive your son. Those idiots us-” “It’s fine.” Cold interrupted “I-It is?” the stand in leader asked, surprised. After all, he lost his heir to the throne. Sorbet had expected him to be furious, or at the very at least sad. The king looked out the glass, seeing the deep reaches of space, staring at the bright, glimmering stars. Silence. That’s what he needed in that time in hell. His tail ran against the ground, back and forth back and forth until finally he spoke again. “Frieza was foolish for not blowing Earth up to begin with. He caused his own empire’s decline. Not only that, but his mind became feeble after his encounter with the Super Saiyan. Although he tried not to show it, he was terrified. I’m sure that he would carry on living that fear if he came back. I, on the other hand, am just glad I get to...feel again. Think. Talk. Drink…” He turned to Sorbet. “Speaking of, I’m parched after being in hell for...how long has it been now?” “More than a decade, I believe, sir.” Sorbet hastily replied. “Yes, yes, thank you. As I was saying, I’m quite parched. It would be ever so kind of one of you to fetch me some wine.” Sorbet motioned a soldier with a wave of his hand, but suddenly halted them. “What kind would you like, King Cold?” Cold laughed ecstatically and waved his hands into the air. “All of the wine! Any variety! Any you can find!” This was an inherently difficult task, as the soldiers aboard the ship weren’t allowed to drink wine by Cold’s own command, and they were light years away from their spaceship. Sorbet saw an opportunity in this, however. “There’s no wine on the ship, my Lord. However, based on the information we’ve gathered, the planet below has a variety of fine wines. Perhaps you should travel there, so you can select some personally...but please try to avoid the Saiyans…” The part about the Saiyans was muttered, obviously, and King Cold didn’t hear a word of it, as his hearing had weakened with age. “Excellent idea, Sorbet,” King Cold said heartily. “Take me to the planet’s finest winery at once!” The spaceship landed in an open field, kicking up dirts and blades of grass on its descent. They arrived near a city that contained the illustrious “Jim’s Budget Winery” Sorbet and Tagoma lead their lord towards the establishment. Naturally, the people on the sidewalk were confused and disturbed by the trio of strange aliens who walked so casually among them, but Cold was used to the sight of peons scattering in fear before him. Cold entered the winery, which was clearly not designed for a man of his dimensions. His horns scraped against the ceiling, causing dust to fall onto the floor. His broad shoulders and swinging cape knocked over the wine bottles on the shelves. King Cold looked at the crimson liquid and broken glass beneath his feet, and imagined this was a sight that his son would probably be used to. Sorbet and Tagoma darted in front of him, cleaning up the spilled drink as he walked, to ensure that the King’s feet remain unsullied. King Cold approached the counter, and addressed the man behind it, an overweight, balding fellow with a thick mustache, who clearly sampled a lot of his own product. “I take it you are the owner of this establishment?” King Cold said. “Your building doesn’t conform to Galactic Code, it seems, but I’d like to sample your wares regardless. Out of all of your wines, which is the finest? Do you carry any from the Galath sector?” The owner stood up from behind the counter. King Cold, Sorbet, and Tagoma all looked like ordinary, if not extremely ugly humans through his haze of booze. He stumbled over to the nearest shelf that hadn’t been knocked over, and selected a bottle at random. “That’ll be 100 Zeni,” the man said. King Cold chuckled, but his laughter was bitter, not jovial. “That one bottle is nowhere near sufficient for a King such as myself. And this backwater planet must be far-removed from the rest of the universe, as the true king of the Planet Trade Organization should not be expected to pay for anything.” “That’s 100 Zeni, plus tax,” the owner repeated. “You do not disrespect the High King Cold in such a way,” Tagoma said coldly. “You will offer us your entire supply of wine, for free, in addition to a tax to support the rebuilding of the great Planet Trade Organization regime.” “Listen, either pay me, or I call the cops,” the owner said. “I’m sorry for the disturbance, Lord Cold,” Sorbet said, raising his hand, as his ring began to glow with red energy. He fired a pair of beams from the ring. One struck him through his overworked kidneys, and the other through his head. Tagoma and Sorbet turned around, and were prepared to strip the shelves clean of wine for their King. It seems the job was already being done for them, however, as their King was snatching bottles off of the shelf, tearing the corks out, and guzzling them down two or three at a time. Meanwhile, onlookers were amazed and scared about what had just happened. Some ran. Some stood, their mouths agape. Some started calling the police. One man even tried to join in with the wine drinking, but was instantly shot in the heart by Sorbet’s ring. His blood didn’t stand out at all with the wine on the floor. After a few minutes, King Cold got tired of drinking for the time being and ordered Sorbet and Tagoma to bring the rest of the wine from the facility to the ship. Tagoma put a large bundle of wine on his back while Sorbet helped the drunk king stagger out of the door. As soon as they left, the cops showed up and examined the scene. The leader of the group of cops (who was quite short in comparison) looked at the scene with dismay. “What...happened here?”, Krillin asked himself. --- “Ya know...you ever wonder why…,” Cold started before hiccuping. “Why Frieza didn’t just kill all the Saiyins?” “Um...he did try to, if you recall, King Cold,” Sorbet responded. The King was sprawled out on a giant throne, with his body lying down on the chair’s handles. The tyrant thought for a moment. “Ah right, Mr. Muppet Man. He did totally do that...buh...but if he killed all the Saiyins...then how were there Ultra Saiyins?” “...As much as I hate to admit it, Lord Frieza failed to kill all of them. He kept the ones he had in control, but then there was this Saiyan named...Goku. I don’t know if you recall, my lord.” Cold turned, now with his front against the throne. “Are there still Saiyans left alive? I mean, you said somethin’ about Goku, but he has to be dead now...right?” The muppet man looked at his ruler, pausing to think of his words carefully. Any wrong move could get him killed, moreso when Cold was drunk than not. “The Saiyans...um...they are still alive on Earth, where we just got your wine.” The king looked at an empty wine glass on the floor and laughed gleefully. “Well I have to thank them for giving me this delectable wine, don’t I? Maybe I should stop by and say thanks!” His advisor hastily responded to his king’s rash choice. “S-Sir! With all due respect, that seems like a pretty large risk! We already got lucky by avoiding Earth’s Defenders twice!” “C’mon. I’m thuh king of the universe! I’m more powerful than any of them!” the tyrant boldly stated, trying to jump out of the chair, but stumbling back into it. “I-I don’t want to disrespect your authority, your highness, but they are much stronger than any of us could have dreamed! They even beat Majin Buu!” Suddenly, the room was silent. The ruler walked right in front of Sorbet, looming over him like a polar bear about to jump at its prey. ‘Excuse me?” Hiis tone had become a blend of confusion, fear and even a slight hint of anger. “Uh...uh...it...it was nothi-” The midget’s head was grasped by his master’s huge, cold hand, and pulled him up to the giant’s face. “Excuuuse me?” “I-I said they even beat Majin Buu…” the shivering adviser was dropped to the floor, making a large thud onto the ground. “Leave me, puhlease.” the monarch demanded. In an instant, he was alone. He sat down at his throne, staring up at the ceiling. “...Majin Buu…” “Actually, you *hic* know what?” Cold bellowed, after contemplating the vast power of Majin Buu for a few seconds, and chugging another glass of wine, to pull himself out of his dreadful flirtation with sobriety. “Yes, my lord?” Sorbet said, rushing back into the room as fast as his little legs could carry him. He wondered why he was so swift to return to Cold’s side after what had happened to him, but he had a plan he wanted to enact, and he feared there would be no other time besides now to suggest it. He needed King Cold to train. In the emperor's current state, he was tremendously powerful, but he hadn’t trained a day in his life, and Sorbet was certain he had tremendous potential to unlock, with enough power to wipe out the Saiyans back on Earth. Normally, Sorbet would be unconcerned with that worthless blue marble, but he feared that, as long as the Saiyans continued to live, the empire could never be rebuilt. And since Cold had gone there to get wine, he suspected that the Earthlings might already be aware of his presence. “Majin...Majin Buu…” whatever he intended to say about Majin Buu would go unknown forever, as the King trailed off, and resumed speaking on an entirely different topic. “You know, I got cheated by those Saiyans. That....Superior Saiyan with the sword, I mean, sure, he killed me, but that was only because I was in my second form. If he had allowed me to use my true form, I could’ve *hic* killed the monkey scum.” “I’m sure of it, my lord,” Sorbet replied. Sorbet took a deep breath. The King’s inebriation made him either more vulnerable to suggestion or more defiant, it was impossible to tell which beforehand. This was the best time for Sorbet to persuade his lord into doing something he had planned since his resurrection, but it could also be the worst. “However, my lord,” Sorbet continued, keeping his head down, both to show Cold that his words were not meant in arrogance, and to hide the fact that he was wincing with fear. “The Earthlings have grown significantly more powerful since the last time you visited. I’m sure your true form is still more than enough to defeat them. However, I’m sure you still have power yet untapped, power that could easily dwarf the Earthlings, and ensure that there is no risk of you being defeated again. Perhaps, if you trained, you could unlock…” “I’ve heard enough,” King Cold said. Sorbet closed his eyes, and prepared for a wave of annihilation to sweep over him and reduce him to ash. “You’re *hic* right, Sorbet. Set up the necessary equipment and find the most skilled personal trainer in my army at once.” “I will do so immediately, my lord.” Before Sorbet could turn and leave, he felt King Cold’s mighty hand against the top of his head again. This time, the gesture was affectionate, if not awkward, as King Cold patted his head as if he was a human dog. King Cold’s intentions were irrelevant, as King Cold’s hand struck against his head repeatedly, ensuring that Sorbet would have a migraine that wouldn’t go away for a few weeks at least. “Y-you know, you’re a really swell guy, Sorbet,” Cold said, as his palm continued to impact the top of Sorbet’s skull. Eventually, mercifully, King Cold passed out, and Sorbet was free to dart out of the room, clutching his forehead in pain. --- “So yeah...that’s what happened, chief. The criminals weren’t there.” Krillin was sitting opposite of a fat man chugging down a cup of coffee. He stood up, his fat body jiggling as he hopped out of the seat. “It doesn’t make any sense...you were always able to catch the criminals I assigned to you. Why not these ones?!” Krillin was about to speak when a green man appeared next to his boss. “Maybe because they weren’t just pathetic goons.” While Krillin merely staggered back a few inches, his boss wasn’t as brave and passed out onto the floor instantly. Krillin keeled down next to his boss and slapped him lightly a few times. When he discovered this was to no avail and the boss was knocked out cold, he turned to the intruder. “Jeez Piccolo, you could have just called.” “...Did you forget I don’t even have a phone?” His fellow Z Fighter sighed . “I mean, you could have just had me get you one...hey, how did you even know I was here?” Piccolo stoically turned his back to Krillin and smirked. “I have advanced hearing, if you recall.” The baldy rubbed his smooth head and laughed, but then looked at Piccolo, confused. “Hey...you still didn’t say why you came here in the first place.” “Didn’t you sense that power level? And notice the sky went dark in the daytime?” “I just assumed that was Yamcha wishing for money or something like that...you’re thinking it was something else?” He nodded. “I sensed an evil presence come here not too long ago. I only happened to stumble upon you in my investigation.” Krillin grabbed a cup on top of a water cooler and started to fill it. “I mean, I did feel a slightly large power level, but could it have been?” “That’s what I’m trying to figure out. The signature feels familiar but...I just can’t put my finger on it.” Krillin had filled up the cup and splashed it on his boss to wake him up. He was still stone cold. “Ah jeez, Piccolo, you really knocked out Mr. Polief!” The police officer sighed. “Anyways, the power wasn’t anything you, Gohan or heck, even Tien couldn’t handle!” Krillin splashed another cup of water on Mr. Polief, still to no avail. “And besides, we have Goku and Vegeta training with Whis and all, so even if that guy was SOMEHOW holding back, they would be handle it, no problemo.” “Hm...I suppose. I’ll meditate on it.” Krillin chuckled. “Next time, don't scare my boss half to death, and then you can do whatever you want.” But Piccolo was already gone, leaving Krillin alone in the room with his passed out boss. And so, Krillin kept splashing. 'Chapter 2' Sorbet was no fool, he had studied the Earthlings for years now, and he was familiar with their various techniques and methods. To prevent them from sensing his Lord’s energy, leading to a premature battle that would almost certainly end in their defeat, he hooked up a special device to his ship, to create a dummy energy signature, that would mask the power of his Lord, until the time was right. King Cold entered the training room, a long-neglected chamber full of weights, a Gravity Machine, and reinforced walls. He didn’t bother inviting Sorbet, nor any of his other soldiers, as he was sure that the process of getting himself in shape would be extremely shameful, and he didn’t want his underlings to witness him debase himself. King Cold huffed, discarding his armor and gazing into the nearby mirror, to see what the situation was in regards to his physical shape. The muscles he was gifted with from birth were almost completely concealed by layers of flab and wrinkled skin. He transformed into the true form of his race, no longer restraining his power or changing his body in any way. Unfortunately, this did little to improve his physique. “Well, I suppose this is what happens when you live a lifetime of luxury,” he said. “But, it’s never too late to turn things around.” King Cold paused, and looked around. “Now...how does this ‘training’ thing work, exactly?” he said, to nobody in particular. He dropped onto all fours, and began doing a simple push-up. His form wasn’t great, and he was sweating and panting far earlier than he’d hoped. After a handful of push-ups, he stopped, frustrated that he wasn’t getting immediate results. “This is...far more taxing than I’d anticipated,” he said, taking a seat, and chugging down a nearby bottle of water, the first drink he’d had in decades that was untainted by alcohol. “If only there was some way to work this blasted body without my weak will getting in the way.” He gazed at himself in the mirror again, longing for his youthful form, before decades of neglect and indulgence reduced him to his current state. “There is a herculean physique lying just underneath this useless flesh, and yet, I cannot access it! There must be some way to...ah, yes!” King Cold reverted to his restrained form, the hulking one he typically used, before putting his armor back on and approaching Sorbet. “Sorbet, didn’t my son have some sort of squad of super elite warriors?” “The Ginyu Force, yes.” Sorbet replied. “And wasn’t one of them able to switch bodies with anyone he wanted?” “Yes, sir. But he was almost certainly destroyed during the Battle of Namek, although we never received an official confirmation of his death, unlike the other members of his force. Why do you ask?” “Put out a search for him around the ruins of Namek, and all over Earth, in addition to all neighboring planets. I have a terrific idea.” “Um...of course sire.” Sorbet hesitated for a second and continued. “B-But, just personally, don’t you think that sending more soldiers to Earth wouldn’t be a very good idea? I-I mean, we already went there twice. Surely, they would be suspicious, right?” King Cold pondered this for a minute and said, “Those scientists have enough resources to make another one of those power level concealing devices, yes?” “Resources have been dwindling since you and Prince Frieza died, but I’m sure we still have enough to make a few more. Why do you ask?” The king looked at the Gravity Room, still pleased by his brilliant plan and said, “Simply make a few smaller versions of that device and put them on our soldiers. Let’s say...five to ten of them. Just a small squadron to send to Earth. I’ll give everyone a month to try to find...Ginyu, was it?” “Yes, sire. A-And I must say, that is a brilliant idea you came up with!” Cold smirked a little bit at the compliment. “Yes, yes. After that, I suppose I’ll just have to make do with what I have.” “W-Will that be all, sire?” Cold stared at the empty water bottle, still in his hand and crushed it. “Get someone to fetch me some wine, will you?” --- “Happy anniversary, Froggy!” The big purple cat man was towering over his pet frog, who had on a little purple birthday hat and a gift by his side, hastily wrapped up. The frog used his little feet to try to get the hat off of him to no avail. The cat man made a big dumb grin, ignoring his pet’s distaste for him. “Can you believe it’s been 10 years since I first found you, Froggy? Remember all of those good times we had? We sure played hide and seek a lot, didn’t we?” He laughed. “A few times, I almost couldn’t find you!” The frog glared at his master with utter hatred and disgust, and hopped towards the door of the apartment. The cat ran to his little buddy and picked him up. “Do you want to go for a walk, Froggy? You didn’t even open your present yet...ah whatever! It’s your anniversary!” The cat grabbed a little leash and wrapped it around his pet, who was desperately trying to break the restraint. It hadn’t worked for 10 years but...maybe it would this time. But sadly, this effort was just as in vain as the others, forcing the frog to hop along on his leash. After a few minutes of walking, the two arrived at the local park, more specifically, the pond nearby. “Alright now, Froggy. I’m going to get some food. You stay here, alright?” Just to be sure, he tied the leash onto a pole nearby. He then patted his pet’s head and walked away. And so, there the frog sat, lying on the ground. What’s the point of going on, he thought. Then suddenly, as if right on cue, something caught the frog’s attention. Something he hadn’t seen in years. Someone wearing Frieza Force armor had walked into the park. Ecstatic, the frog hopped and hopped, croaking to try to get the soldier’s attention. This soldier too, was a frog, though obviously much more advanced than primitive frogs. He sat down on a bench, exhausted. “Huff...huff...twenty days...twenty days and he isn’t here...m-maybe at this point, I should just have someone else t-take this job.” Then, the frog soldier saw the little frog desperately trying to hop over to him, and croaking in his direction. Slowly, he got up and started walking over to the creature, making him even more excited. “W-What are you doing, little guy?” Quickly, the frog started shuffling his feet around, making eligible symbols in the grass. By the end, a whole row of symbols were made out. “...Change?” After the soldier said that, yellow rays of light came out of both of the frog’s mouths instantly. Just as suddenly, they were gone. The little frog suddenly became very shocked, barely being looking up to see the big frog about to stomp him before he did so. The big frog stomped and stomped, laughing hysterically, and also catching some bystanders’ attention. But he didn’t care. The pet was now a pile of purple blood and a bunch of organs. The big frog flexed his hands, stomped his legs, moving his head around, beaming at his newfound form. “17 years...AFTER 17 YEARS! I HAVE FINALLY RETURNED!” The soldier brought his heels together, knelt slightly and outstretched his arms. “The leader of the Ginyu Force! CAPTAIN GINYU!” The bystanders now had their full attention on the frog man, all of them staring blankly. But Ginyu merely laughed, punching the air. “It feels so great to have arms again!” He took a closer examination on his body. “Though this body isn’t in the best shape for posing...bah whatever! At least I finally CAN pose!” “F-Froggy?” The captain looked behind himself at the cat man, tears swelling up in his eyes. As the cat was mourning over his lost pet, Ginyu walked up and knocked the cat out with a karate chop. “You deserve much more punishment for all of your disgusting actions for all of those years rather than death alone!” Before any bystander could do anything, Ginyu flew up into the air, along with the knocked out body. Ginyu clicked the scouter, held in his new body’s pocket since it didn’t fit on his face. A voice spoke through the device. “Pogran? What are ya callin’ me fer? Ah got work to do...” “Is that any way to talk to your superiors?!” Immediately recognizing the voice, the soldier on the other line said, “C-Cap’in Ginyu? A-Ahm sorry sir, I-I juss wasn’t expectin’ you...where is that magot Pogran, anywho?” “I took his body, and now he’s dead. God, I hated that old body...heh...I couldn’t help myself from destroying it!” Ginyu laughed once more, but suddenly gained back his composure. “But anyways, send me the coordinates for the ship Pogran came in.” “A’ight captain. If ya din’t notice though, we were searchin’ for ya. S-So we’ll be escortin’ ya ta King Cold.” “Heh...better late than never. I never gave up hope on you guys, even after all those years!” Being taken aboard King Cold’s ship felt like returning home for Captain Ginyu. Sure, the Ginyu Force may have been long dead, and the Planet Trade Organization’s forces were dwindling, but it felt good to simply be among his comrades again. He was escorted directly to King Cold’s chambers. He took a knee before the great tyrant, bowing his head. “I’m sorry that I failed you in the past, Lord Cold.” he said. “Oh, it’s no bother,” Cold said, waving his hand. “We’ve all made mistakes. All that matters now is the present.” “Your wisdom knows no bounds, Lord Cold.” “Anyways, I have a proposition for you. I can see by your new body that you can still use the Body Change technique.” “Yes, Lord Cold.” “Do you think you could use that technique on me? I want to train my body to its maximum potential, but I have lordly duties to attend to, and I can’t spend all of my time training. But, if you were to take over my body, temporarily, you’d be able to do that work for me, wouldn’t you?” Ginyu nodded his froggy head. “Yes, Lord Cold. I would be an honor to be inside of you.” Cold’s cheeks flushed, and he was reminded why his son only called in the Ginyu Force in the most dire situations. “Fine, get it over with,” King Cold said. He immediately morphed into his true form, as he didn’t want to waste time teaching Ginyu how to transform when inside his body. “This is the body you will be training,” Cold said. Nobody, besides his own sons, had ever seen this form before, not even his most trusted elites. Ginyu was truly in awe Ginyu rose from his bowed position, and raised his arms into the air. “Change, now!” he cried. His soul was ejected from his body, and transplanted into Cold’s, while Cold’s was placed into Pogran’s froggy form. “It seems to have worked,” Cold said, looking at his own diminutive body. He hated being this small, that was why he never used his first form, but this was only a temporary arrangement. “What majesty!” Ginyu said, flexing and posing in Cold’s body. “What a truly peerless form! And yet, there’s still so much untapped potential!" “Yes, thank you,” Cold said. “How long do you think it’ll take for you to train my body completely?” “Well,” Ginyu said, beginning to perform squat-thrusts. “It’ll take me some time to get used to your body, and then a little while after that to train it to perfection. I’d say about four months.” “Excellent,” Cold said. “I won’t let you down, my Lord!” Ginyu skipped into the training chambers. King Cold sent an alert to Sorbet, telling him to make his soldiers aware that their great King would look like a frog for the next few months, and not to disturb the training room for one moment. King Cold was left with, essentially, nothing to do for the next few months, as he was stranded in this pathetic, ugly body. There was an upside, however. The only thing keeping Cold from descending into complete and utter self-destructive hedonism was the fact that he didn’t want to damage his aging body. Since this wasn’t his body, however, he was free to do whatever he wanted with it. Ginyu would have to take it back eventually, sure, but King Cold couldn’t do irreparable damage to it in only four months, could he? --- “So, ya big cat freak. Is it fun playing with your ‘little froggy’ now?” Ginyu was in the training room, with the gravity increased to 2X Earth’s. Lying there on the ground was the purple cat, unable to even lift his head with the force pressed against him. “W-What? Froggy? You aren’t Fro-” He was cut off with Ginyu blasting a very weak Death Beam through his former owner, who gave out an ear piercing screech. “You mindless, disgusting cat! After all of those years you didn’t get the picture that I despised you?! That I wasn’t like those other ‘Froggies’?! That I wanted to get off that planet and away from you as soon as possible?! That you were disgracing the leader of the Ginyu Force with stupid costumes?! But, no, no, no, you were too ignorant: keeping me trapped in that blasted cage of an apartment! For all of those years you didn’t even notice!” He fired another beam into the man’s leg, who let out another scream. “W-Why...I just wanted a little...a-a little Froggy...” The man’s mind was too fragile to stay conscious any longer, and so, he passed out. The captain scowled. “Bah...it’s no fun to make him pay when he isn’t even ready to pay the toll!” Ginyu turned off the gravity, with the unconscious body in hand and walked out the door, seeing a soldier passing by. “Hey, soldier!” The Frieza minion quickly turned and saluted to his superior. “Y-Yes King Cold? I-I mean Captain Ginyu?” Ginyu tossed the man into the soldier’s arms, struggling to hold the cat man’s fat body. “Put him in the healing chamber. When he wakes up, keep him in a closely monitored prison cell. I’ll be taking breaks every 5 hours, so send a soldier down here during my break, bringing that horrific creature with them. We will rinse and repeat this for 4 months. Do you understand?” “Y-Yes sir!” The soldier slowly inched along, still struggling in carrying the cat man’s weight. Once the cadet left Ginyu’s sight, he went back into the training room. He was about to turn on the gravity and start some push ups, but he paused, and ran to Sorbet’s room with childlike glee. “YOU! MUPPET SOLDIER!” Sorbet fell off of his bed, startled. “U-Uh, it’s Sorbet, si-” “Do you still have the Ginyu Force Special Squadron Training Posetastic Theme Song of Epic Proportions recorded somewhere?!” The blue commander blinked and pointed to his right. “D-Down the hall is the main computer with the datab-” Before he could finish his sentence, Ginyu was out of the room, leaving a gust of wind in Sorbet’s room with his sheer speed and sending the muppet into the air. The captain shoved aside the soldier sitting in front of the many monitors, sending him flying into the hallway. He typed as fast as he could, clicking buttons left and right until he finally found what he was looking for. He plugged a nearby hard drive into the computer, putting the amazing song inside, and dashed back to the training room and plugged the hard drive into a port in the central station. And suddenly, music started blaring at full blast, echoing throughout the ship. “AHAHAHAH! YES! YES!” Ginyu started posing and singing and dancing beyond all belief,ecstatic to hear his favorite song once more. “YES WE ARE!” After a few minutes of singing along, he started to train, now extremely motivated to not let such a great invention of the Ginyu Force to go to waste. The power of the music flowed through Ginyu’s borrowed body. He dropped to the floor, and began doing push-ups. Even with King Cold’s sore, atrophied muscles, the undeniable rhythm of the Ginyu Force’s fabulous theme song compelled him to move. He had the song on loop, so every time his motivation began to dwindle, the iconic and manly chanting of “TOKUSENTAI” would fill him with another burst of energy. Things counterintuitively grew easier as he went on. King Cold’s body became stronger, day after day. The King was right, although Ginyu never doubted him. His body was full of potential just waiting to be drawn out, and Ginyu almost felt ashamed that he would feel King Cold’s body in its glorious powered-up state before the King himself. There was another tipping point, however, as the Tokusentai song hit its 26,702th or so repeat. Ginyu thought about the old force, and how they were all gone now, and he was the only one who remained, and how easily he could’ve died with them. He hoped that they were still posing and keeping the Ginyu Force Super Elite tradition alive in hell, as he had no delusions about his squadmates being heaven-bound. He knew that he’d end up there himself, after his inevitable death. He could only hope that his demise would be noble, that he’d perish on the battlefield, in a combat pose, in the name of his King. Cold’s body was perfected, thickly muscled and brimming with power. There was a spark of golden energy within it, just out of Ginyu’s reach an indication of something far greater than even the enormity of Cold’s current strength, but Ginyu knew it was something that Cold would need to attain for himself. Ginyu rushed out of the chamber with newfound speed. “Sorbet, I’m ready to switch back!” he said gleefully to the koala-faced creature. Pogran’s body was alive only in the technical sense; bloated and nearly nonverbal, it was barely distinguishable from a corpse. His mouth gurgled with a sickly-colored foam, as his bloodstream was filled with innumerable diseases and drugs, a monument to Cold’s boundless hedonism. The froggy body was kept on life support, in the deepest part of the ship’s medical chamber. Even with the vast technology at their disposal, there was only so much the Planet Trade Organization could do, and what King Cold had done to Pogran’s body was beyond even their capacity to cure. “Perhaps...I went too far.” Cold said. --- Ginyu stood over the half dead frog body, saddened to see his king in such a sorry state. In a way, it reminded him of that last look Pogran gave to him before he was killed. He quickly brushed away the thought of that old body and contemplated what to do next. “To change with that body, we’d have to take off the mask...and I’m not quite sure if I’d be able to live after that.” Ginyu paused, but quickly stood proud. “But if that sacrifice has to be made so that my king achieves this perfect form, then I’ll do it!” The leader of the force was about to pull the mask off of Pogran’s body, but Sorbet stood, waving his hands back and forth. “Wait, Captain! I know a way that both of you two can live!” The captain retracted his arm and said, “Go on.” “Well, I was just thinking, maybe we can bring a foot soldier in here so that right after you change with King Cold, you can change with that soldier so neither of you will have to die!” The king coughed and through the mask he managed to say, “I would like to reward Ginyu for his efforts. Bring in the strongest soldier we have for Ginyu to change with. The strongest one is that Tagoma, correct?” Sorbet was startled at this. T-Tagoma? B-But he’s my greatest soldier! He’s pulled through in every situation! He doesn’t deserve this kind of death!, he thought. He then glanced at Ginyu, with that fearsome form and sighed. “R-Right away, my lord.”, he said, scurrying off to find his greatest subordinate. When he got to Tagoma’s room, he knocked on the door. “Tagoma. It’s me.” The door slid open and Tagoma saluted. “Commander Sorbet! I wasn’t expecting you!” Sorbet looked down at the ground with regret, thinking about how to deal with the situation carefully. After a while, Sorbet responded by silently saying, “Follow me…” And so, with no questions asked, Tagoma followed. “If you don’t mind me asking, Commander, but where exactly are we going?” “We’re going to see King Cold and Captain Ginyu.” “Really? You’ve been pretty strict on who gets to see either of them, much less both of them.” Sorbet stopped walking, confusing Tagoma. “I just want you to know that you’ve been a great asset to the Frieza Force” he said. “Well, of course! I’d do anything for the force!” The commander gave a small smile and continued walking. When then returned, Tagoma was shocked to see the nearly dead King Cold. “I-Is this what happened to the king? I heard rumors about it, but...” Before Tagoma could continue, Sorbet nodded to Giny, leading to the captain taking off the oxygen mask. “Change now!” Quickly, two beams of light shot out of Pogran and King Cold’s body. The elite soldier wasn’t even able to react before Ginyu turned his head and whispered change. And just as quickly as the change happened, Sorbet’s elite was dead. “Farewell, old friend.” the muppet whispered. He looked at his superiors, happy in their bodies. “Farewell.” Category:Grand Timeline Tournament Category:Stories Featuring King Cold Category:Fan Fiction Category:Collaboration